Lovely Runner

I'm sitting here with a smile on my face crying tears of joy. I feel like a crazy person.

The story, the acting, the *chemistry*. Never have I gotten as invested in a k-drama as I did with this one. Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Joon were absolute perfection and a joy to watch together. The story was lighthearted and cute, full of adorable moments and smiles, but when the emotional moments came, they hit hard. I loved every second of it, including all the small side stories of the secondary characters. Every last detail was perfect.

I'd thought Park Gyu Young and Cha Eun Woo were super cute in *A good day to be a dog*, but nah. Same with Jun Ho being the most adorable he-falls-first male lead ever. Or CLOY having a top-tier romance story. This show left them in the dust.

Sonagi was a lovely song and so personal to Seon Jae and poignant to the story, and I love that there were scenes of live-played music. That may seem like an insignificant detail, but it's so unusual in k-dramas (even in the ones with idols playing the leads) and was so wonderfully unexpected and exciting.

This drama will stay with me for years to come and surely bring a smile to my face whenever I think back on it.

Someone get me a yellow umbrella so I can daydream about fated love the next time it rains! 💛💛💛

Awwww… what a Lovely story. I'm going to miss the cast, the acting, and the plot.

Good thing I am feeling it—watching kdrama with romance genre. Otherwise, masayang lang ang kanindot sa salida.

Whoa... I am kicking every kilig moments. Kung gikilig kog taman, feeling nako mas gikilig pa si Sunjae HAHAHAH maygani, dili nonchalant.

I honest to god can't gush enough about this show. If I could rate it higher than 10/10 I would. The casting, acting, characters, writing, directing, music, comedy, emotions, everything: perfection the whole way through. AND it nailed the ending. Sol and Sun-jae are just the most adorable ever (I love loser Sun-jae to pieces). Really sets the bar high for the rest of 2024!

So far I'd say this is my favourite kdrama of 2024. It's been a while since I've been this immersed in a story. Love Im Sol and Seon Jae, they are the cutest, and their chemistry is off the charts!
I hope the show stays so good, and of course we need a happy ending for our darlings. 💜

p.s. I'm totally on board with watching only happy moments and good stuff til the end, just saying. Really no need for that creepy man to reappear if you ask me.

p.p.s. It's confirmed! Fave show of 2024! Loved every little detail.

I think this will become a iconic drama like crash landing etc. It's that good. I really loved everything about this drama.

I'm a total fan of time travel narratives, and this series has been a remarkable journey! The leads were funny and clever, sharing a chemistry that’s utterly endearing. The series masterfully has moments that make you laugh and scenes so intense that they command your attention. If you are a fan of romantic comedies with a pulse-quickening twist of thriller elements, this is a must-watch! It stands out as not only one of my top picks for 2024 but also as an all-time favorite. I loved it!!

From a time travel perspective (instead of just pure romance), “Lovely Runner” is about a couple who is trying to defy time by finding ways to change the “fixed time”.

In time travel, the “fixed time” trope is about an event that _must_ happen at all cost because it is a very pivotal moment in history. If it doesn't happen, literally everything will change and once it changes, it will be impossible to fix it… possibly unraveling time and destroying all existence.

[spoiler]In this story, Sunjae dying is a “fixed moment”. He needs to die no matter what, because the future depends on him dying, otherwise, there won't any future. So, “time” itself is _naturally_ fixing things, ensuring that Sunjae will die no matter what the time traveler tries.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Sol fixing her legs is not a “fixed moment”. While time tried to ensure it happens again, for three times at that, time eventually adjusted to a version where she can walk fine. Those three “opportunities” where she would've lost her legs, eventually superseded that one timeline where she did.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Unfortunately, for Sunjae, no matter how many attempts they do, him dying is integral to something. That something will happen in the future, maybe a new law was passed giving more protection to celebrities; or a new law was passed criminalising keyboard warriors. Whatever it will be, that's beyond the story.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]However, there is hope. While Sunjae's death is vital to ensure the continued existence of the universe, there is one factor that can change that “fixed moment”. Love.[/spoiler]

In many cultures, both historically and present, “love” is the ultimate power that can make even the impossible possible. “Lovely Runner” is showing us that. Their love for each other transcends all times/timelines. No matter what, they will always find each other, and love each other, and die for each other.

[spoiler]This was also demonstrated with Sol's brother and bestie. Though her bestie and brother did not get together in the original timeline, they had a spark, the spark just did not flame (think starting a campfire). When Sol started to change things, and even _without_ doing anything related to his brother and her bestie, the two eventually got a chance to flame that spark. Thus, every succeeding time travel by Sol, she didn't have to do anything, in fact, she even tried to separate them, but they still got married.[/spoiler]

The way I see it, this is what Sunjae and Sol needs to prove:

* Is their love for each other strong [spoiler]enough to change Sunjae's “fixed moment”[/spoiler]?
* Is their desire to be in each other's arms powerful enough [spoiler]to reshape time[/spoiler]?

Well… we'll find out next week in the finale episodes.

^_^

I really like how they played the dementia plot device. There is a [fictional] theory that dementia, and a few others, are actually caused by multiple timelines. In this [fictional] theory, or trope, the cause of the dementia is either:

(1) the person has some sort of strong protection against timeline changes, so when they catch-up to the _origin_ time of the time traveler, all those memories floods in and they get confused, and the brain goes on self-preservation mode by only remembering the stable years; and

(2) as a person grows older and our body functions get weaker, people start to access the experiences and memories of their counterparts in other timelines. Since they are technically the same person (i.e. just a split timeline), they are quantum-entangled. If all of their versions gets dementia at around the same time, the more they are quantum-entangled (aside: quantum entanglement is a real physics science). Thus the person seems to “know”.

Well done there.

Byun Woo-seok portrays his character very well. I get butterflies seeing Ryu Sun-jae looking at Im Sol so lovingly. Hye-yoon’s Im Sol conveys the feeling well that I teared up everytime she cries.

Sonagi is such a great song, my heart aches & longs for their romance 3 days after watching the finale. ㅠㅠ
BRB i'll watch all the behinds & deleted scenes.